Behave! Arteta likes how Suarez has been keeping his nose clean this season (Image: Andrew Powell)

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They will cross swords this weekend in a top-of-the-table battle, but Mikel Arteta has nothing but respect for Luis Suarez.

Arsenal midfielder Arteta admits to being impressed by the way the Liverpool striker has reinvented himself.

Biting an opponent and the racial abuse of Patrice Evra made Suarez ­football’s Public Enemy No.1 last season.

In the summer, the Uruguayan could have signed for Arsenal, claiming he had had enough at Anfield.

Now it is opposition defences that Suarez is leaving in tatters after staying at the Reds to shoot them into title contention with six goals in his first four league matches following his 10-game ­suspension.

“He is a tremendous player,” said Arteta, “And he has shown a lot of character to get back after getting really criticised and on the front pages a lot. He has gone on to produce some great performances and his goal-scoring record is amazing.

“It was very difficult for him because he had a lot of people against him and he was under massive pressure.

“Last summer when everyone thought he was leaving, he still came back and put in some great performances.

“I like players like this. When they are on the floor and everyone is on them they stand up and prove themselves and I admire that.”

Since returning from his suspension for biting Branislav Ivanovic, Suarez has hit the net in three of his four games – including a hat-trick against West Brom – and set up Daniel Sturridge to score in the other, against Newcastle.

(Image: Sky)

Before his ban last term, Suarez had a total of 30 goals for Liverpool, making him the first player to reach that figure for the club since Fernando Torres in the 2007-2008 campaign.

Arteta admits even he has experienced the kind of red mist that sparked Suarez’s moment of madness.

He added: “I’ve seen a lot of things in my career. Not only in the matches but on the training ground against your own team-mates. Everyone can lose it.

“I lost it once against Morten Gamst Pedersen. I poked his eye. Afterwards, I was like, ‘What are you doing? This is stupid!’ but you get upset, you get frustrated and you do some stuff. It’s not right.

“He accepted it, he apologised and I think he did everything he had to do to try to learn from it in order to not do it again. Sometimes you do silly things in life.

“Even with my kids, I’ve made mistakes. What you want to do is learn and not make them again.”

(Image: Action)

Despite their best efforts, Arsenal failed to buy Suarez to boost their title ­prospects.

Asked whether the Gunners would have been even further clear at the top had they signed him, Arteta replied: “I don’t know about that. You don’t know how you would react or how someone would adapt.

“He’s not our player. We have some very good players that are doing really well so we can’t analyse something that hasn’t happened.”

Arteta does believe, however, that Liverpool deserve credit for the ­explosive way they have started the new campaign given their troubled summer.

“I think Liverpool have done really, really well when you consider ­everything that has happened,” he added.

“I think they have been playing some really good ­football and that their strikers are very much in form at the moment, just like Olivier Giroud is for us.”

Arteta on... being written off by Alan Hansen

Mikel Arteta has laughed off a claim from Match of the Day pundit Alan Hansen that he and Arsenal will finish fourth at best in May.

The Gunners top the table with seven wins from nine matches, and are two points ahead of Saturday visitors Liverpool in what is shaping up as the most open Premier League title race ever.

But Hansen, a former Liverpool star, predicts the north Londoners won't last the distance as they lack a leader and will struggle to recover once they hit a bad patch.

Arteta said: “I respect everyone’s opinion, but no one has the answers to what is going to happen in 29 fixtures’ time.

“The only thing we can do is work as hard as we can and try to find a way to be where we are in May. That’s our ambition. We’re enjoying the moment, enjoying the way we’re playing and we want to keep going because we feel privileged to be where we are.

(Image: Paul Gilham)

“The only time you doubt yourself is if you see it in your team-mates, your manager or the crowd. That’s what makes you think, ‘Oh, can we do it?’

“But there is belief in our dressing room and if you’re certain you can do it there is a big chance you will. If you don’t believe then it is very hard. Things don’t happen unless you really try.”

Arsenal have lost back-to-back home matches to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League and Chelsea in the Capital One Cup, but are unbeaten in the league since an opening-day defeat to Aston Villa.

While many pundits predicted a difficult season for Arsene Wenger’s men, they are defying the doubters so far.

Arteta added: “I wouldn’t say the lack of expectation on us took the pressure off. We had so much pressure. After the Villa game we were under massive pressure.

“The crowd were getting into us. They weren’t happy with the results, they weren’t happy with the lack of signings and so the whole club was in a difficult position. To turn that around is a credit to the lads, the board and the manager because he didn’t hurry to make any decision just to take the pressure off his shoulders.”

While £42.5million Mesut Ozil has been showered with plaudits for his displays, Arteta believes Wenger also deserves praise for keeping his head in the transfer market while all about him others were losing theirs.

Despite calls to break the bank, Wenger got Mathieu Flamini and Yaya Sanogo on free transfers and keeper Emiliano Viviano on loan before laying out big money on Ozil.

All were good business, according to Arteta.

He added: “Just these four players and now everyone is happy. He only gets the players he believes can make the difference and there weren’t many.”

Arteta on... the title contenders

ARSENAL I think we have the quality, the desire and now we have the experience to be challenging for the title. But it’s still very early and I want to see when the tough moments come how we react to them.

CHELSEA One hundred percent involved in the title race. You only need to look at the manager they’ve got (Jose Mourinho) and what he has done. It has never been any different in any other country, so why is it going to be any different this year?

MANCHESTER CITY They’ve got more quality and talent than anyone else and they have a manager who wants to play very attractive football. I think they have got a great chance to win it.

MANCHESTER UNITED I will be surprised if, by February or March, they are not very close to the top of the league. They have got probably more experience than anyone else and have a large squad with many different options. They have a new manager who should click with the players eventually and put together win after win.

EVERTON are probably not as experienced as the other teams that I have mentioned, but they are getting a new philosophy of play and they are confident. Whether they can last for 38 games is the big question.

LIVERPOOL They have probably the best attacking players in the league at the moment. If they can keep them, stay solid and carry on scoring freely, they will win a lot games. So why not Liverpool for the title?

SOUTHAMPTON I know the manager (Mauricio Pochettino) well and he is the key. I played with him and he is going to put a very, very competitive team out. He is going to make it very hard for opposition teams.

TOTTENHAM are really consistent and they’re a good side. They’ve had a good start. It’s going to be very hard season for everyone. You’re talking about the most open and most difficult Premier League for a decade. Let’s see what happens - it’s going to be fun.

Mikel Arteta was speaking at the Mountain Dew Xbox One Game Zone. You can win exclusive Microsoft Xbox One prizes on packs of Mountain Dew. Visit